London-headquartered esports organisation Fnatic have moved into Teamfight Tactics (TFT) esports.
The org have brought on board North American player Ryan ‘milala’ Lai and Canadian Nicholas ‘Wasianiverson’ Faust as they look to make an impact in the game.
Riot Games’ League of Legends themed auto battler strategy title has its own competitive scene, with milala having won the big TFT Vegas Open late last year, the Remix Rumble Championship and more.
And Wasianiverson has won the likes of the Runeterra Reforged: NA Regional Finals and Monsters Attack: Mid-Set Finale.
Milala said: “Game time. Dream come true to be on Fnatic. Let’s get it.”
Wasianiverson added: “Joined Fnatic. Let’s go!”
Fnatic said: “We’ve signed two of the very best, most performative players. Milala stands as both the TFT Vegas Open Champion and Set 10 World Champion, Wasianiverson is highly known for his confident appearances in S8 Monsters Attack and S9 Runeterra Reforged, and we’re proud to have both players representing the Black and Orange.
“We’re excited to get started with TFT, and thrilled to be able to contribute to a title with such a strong focus on community and belonging, using our resources to support the players and drive new viewership and fandom within the TFT space.
“With our new players hailing from North America and Canada respectively, TFT offers us a new opportunity to further foster our American audience, whilst also giving milala and Wasianiverson huge support from our passionate EU audience.”
Fnatic
Fnatic of course already compete in two other Riot titles – League of Legends and Valorant – with their LoL team currently competing in the 2024 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI).
Fnatic also said they plan to extend their TFT esports roster further in the future.
Update: They also announced they’re returning to Overwatch:
Second update: Fnatic have also returned to Street Fighter, with the signing of Wong “Chris Wong” Yuk-cheung. There’s more in this Street Fighter announcement post on the Fnatic website.
The news comes almost five years after Riot first revealed Teamfight Tactics, and a few months before the Esports World Cup 2024 kicks off.
The World Cup has a $500,000 TFT tournament, and Fnatic’s new players will certainly have their eyes on the prize.
Related article: Fnatic, Guild, Tundra and more named as Esports World Cup orgs in Club Support Program
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
